"Master, everyone has their own aspirations. I don't regret the decision I made ten years ago."
Ma Xiunuo shook his head and said no more. He was simply lamenting that Su Yuntao could have joined Spirit Hall without a hitch and enjoyed a lifetime of security and comfort, living a quiet, prosperous life. Instead, he had chosen another path.
Although Ma Xiunuo didn't understand why Su Yuntao had made that choice, he still respected it.
Su Yuntao was filled with emotion as he recalled everything that had happened to him on Douluo Continent.
Ten years ago, Su Yuntao had awoken from a fire in another world. But when he opened his eyes, he hadn't seen the family members who had been by his side. Instead, he had found himself in this familiar yet strange world!
Just like that, Su Yuntao had taken the place of someone in another world who shared his name. His body was unharmed, and his mind was sound. He hadn't gained a single memory. Perhaps because the two of them looked exactly alike, everyone in this world who had known the other Su Yuntao had mistaken him for the Su Yuntao who had always lived on Douluo Continent.
His Martial Soul was still the Lone Wolf—in other words, he was still a single dog—and his talent was just as unremarkable. The two of them were even astonishingly close in age, both twelve years old! Apart from his memories, he seemed to have inherited everything else from the other Su Yuntao.
Faced with this strange yet familiar world, Su Yuntao felt neither passion nor excitement. He felt lost and afraid! When a person faced the prospect of leaving their parents and family forever, no one could easily accept it. He didn't want to face this world, and even less did he want to lose his parents and family forever.
After a long period of evasion and confusion, Su Yuntao finally found the courage to face the world again and set foot on the path of cultivation. The reason was simple: he wanted to grow. He wanted to become strong. He wanted to go home!
Su Yuntao's cultivation goal was both wildly ambitious and perfectly understandable. It was wildly ambitious because a young Soul Master with Innate Soul Power of just level two, who had reached level eleven at twelve years old, actually aspired to become a god! Yet it was perfectly understandable because all he wanted was to go home! Only by becoming a god could he leave this world, giving himself even the slightest hope of returning home!
Ten years ago, Su Yuntao had just graduated from Spirit Hall's junior Soul Master academy. He was twelve years old, at level eleven, and had just obtained his First Soul Ring. Because his talent was poor, he hadn't been able to attend the next-level Soul Master academy run by Spirit Hall for further study.
Influenced by the original story, he had set out from the Spirit Hall Academy in Nuoding City with reverent devotion, embarking on a pilgrimage to Shrek Academy.
On the way, Su Yuntao relied on a crude map of the continent and the few gold coins he had received as a Soul Master subsidy. He had traveled through wind and dust, pressing on by day and night. After many days on the road, he had finally reached Shrek Academy.
But what awaited him wasn't the path to godhood he had imagined. It was mockery and contempt. Su Yuntao had tried to prove himself through hard work, but how could a useless twelve-year-old at level eleven, whose First Soul Ring was white, ever earn the favor of Monster Academy? The monsters weren't the academy itself—they were its students!
It would have been one thing if he hadn't gotten into Shrek. Whether to accept him was Shrek Academy's choice. But Shrek Academy had also swallowed the twenty Gold Soul Coins Su Yuntao had painstakingly saved. He had tried to argue his case, but Zhao Wuji had simply used his strength to suppress him. With all seven Soul Rings released, he had crushed Su Yuntao beneath his feet in an instant, making him spit out a mouthful of blood.
"Get lost!" From Zhao Wuji's sneering face, Su Yuntao heard the words that nearly drove him mad.
His dignity trampled, his character insulted, Su Yuntao had once tried to stake his life on a desperate fight. But just as he was about to make up his mind, a strange feeling welled up from deep within him. He said nothing more and simply left Shrek Academy in silence.
He still had things to do. He couldn't die yet.
Worse than the physical pain, the most terrifying part of this experience had been the mental torment. His former admiration for Shrek, his former view of this world—all of it had vanished in that moment.
This was a world of the strong. There was no law, no dignity, only strength! As a child, when he had read the novel Douluo Continent, he had seen passion and excitement. But now, what he experienced was cruelty and insignificance!
Beneath the gods' triumphant cheers in the original story lay the wails of countless ants. Behind the dazzling glory of those at the top lay the blood and tears of billions of living beings! This was the true face of Douluo Continent!
In the original story, Sea God Tang San had ascended to godhood. But the countless tragedies on Douluo Continent continued—and even more began!
Although Su Yuntao had suffered a blow unlike any he had ever faced, he hadn't given up. As long as he kept going, there was always hope. Once he gave up, hope would be gone forever. Perseverance didn't guarantee success; with his talent, hope was all but nonexistent. But if he didn't persevere, he would certainly fail!
When Su Yuntao returned to Nuoding City, he immediately spent what little money he had left on a gift and went to Notting Academy to visit Master Yu Xiaogang.
The Master was very surprised, but he still clasped his hands behind his back and struck a pose of lofty authority. He spoke at length with Su Yuntao, his eloquence flowing like a river as he spun grand tales. When Su Yuntao showed how utterly enraptured he was, the Master was very pleased.
Su Yuntao was so excited that he finally voiced what he had been thinking: he wanted to take the Master as his teacher!
As soon as the Master heard that this twelve-year-old Soul Master at level eleven wanted to become his disciple, his face immediately fell. He only said that he would never take a disciple in his life.
Looking at the Master, whose lips curled slightly and whose expression was strange, with "Who do you think you are?" written all over his face, Su Yuntao said nothing. He silently left Notting Academy.
Everyone thought they were the protagonist of a story. But Su Yuntao felt he was merely a background character, or even cannon fodder, in the story of Douluo Continent. That story belonged to someone else. He was nothing but one tiny ant in it!
After leaving Nuoding City, Ma Xiunuo, a kind-hearted old man of little strength, had reached out to help Su Yuntao. Although Su Yuntao had left without a word and broken Spirit Hall's rules, Ma Xiunuo hadn't held it against him. Instead, he had used what little influence he had to resolve Su Yuntao's troubles and had tried to find him a good place to go.
Unlike the other forces on Douluo Continent, Spirit Hall treated ordinary Soul Masters with little strength very well. In any other force, Su Yuntao's sudden departure would have gotten him executed. But after Ma Xiunuo paid back six years of Su Yuntao's tuition, Spirit Hall didn't pursue the matter any further.
That was also thanks to Su Yuntao being only twelve years old—still very young—and not yet truly having worked for Spirit Hall or received its formal benefits.
Although Su Yuntao was grateful, he still turned down Ma Xiunuo's further help. From the standpoint of their origins, this kind old man was from the same village as the original Su Yuntao.
Seventy-five years ago, Ma Xiunuo became the first Soul Master the village had seen in a century, making the entire village proud.
Sixteen years ago, Ma Xiunuo had personally awakened the original Su Yuntao's Martial Soul and brought him to the Spirit Hall Academy to study.
After turning down Ma Xiunuo, Su Yuntao embarked on ten years of wandering.
Ten years of hardship taught him the ways of the world; a hundred humiliations showed him its warmth and coldness.
Su Yuntao had grown very quickly over those ten years. He had witnessed the darkness of this world with his own eyes.
He had once complained that Heaven had treated him so unfairly. But at least he was a Soul Master. Douluo Continent had hundreds of millions of people, yet fewer than a hundred thousand Soul Masters. Just becoming one already meant being one in ten thousand!
He had nothing, yet at least he could collect a cultivation and living subsidy every month, enough to live without worrying about food or clothing—something millions upon millions of ordinary people could only envy.
These ten years of experience had not only raised his Soul Power to level twenty-nine. More importantly, they had let him see this world clearly!
Compared to people who were truly tormented by life, Su Yuntao's circumstances were already heaven. He had no reason to complain anymore, because in this world, some people had to exhaust all their strength just to stay alive.
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